Reilly's blog

To admit the following is a dangerous admission: I am a person on the Autistic spectrum. In regular times, this wouldn’t be dangerous. Autistic people are the newest innocent targets of this presidency. We are regular Americans. We go to work, date, pay taxes, make art, play sports, and have regular lives. Just because some have it harder and need more support, it is not justification to send us or anyone else to “work camps.” We are not a burden and deserve to be treated as humans.

Autism is not a disease. Vaccines do not cause autism. Only one kind of person makes that salute. (pause.) The news of the Autism Registry by the worst Kennedy, is a giant red flag for anyone familiar with history, and was something done by the Nazis as part of the Holocaust. I compare him with them because there is nothing ethical about this study. Once again, it’s another heist and a means to practise eugenics. As a person from the first generation where Autism and taking care of your mental health were just being accepted, this terrifies me.

I am 39 years old. I did not know that I was on the autism spectrum until five years ago. Knowing would have helped me be kinder to myself and have explained so much. Why I felt like an outsider, why I experienced burnout, why social situations were challenging for me, and why I experienced sensory overload. I’ve changed careers several times, achieved a college degree, and done everything a regular life would have with highs, lows, heartbreaks, and disappointments. Learning that I was on the Autism spectrum in 2020 was not a shock. It was a relief after ten long years of treading water in therapy without resolution. I finally had the whole picture. Learning was the first step in changing my life and adjusting to the new reality. Navigating our messed-up insurance system is utter insanity. Doing so while being autistic is like swimming with just your legs during a storm. I was lucky to find out. If I did not have cis-white privilege, it would have been so much harder. Science was starting to fill the equity gap and the understanding of this condition before this regime cut off all ethical research. It’s sad to think that others like me who are struggling right now have to hide and suffer needlessly. For those familiar with the history of fascist governments like our current one, these are dangerous times. It wasn’t long ago that disabled people and those considered different were the first to be rounded up into camps, burned in ovens, lobotomized, experimented on, and locked away. It should not be dangerous to be who you are. To know who you are. To express yourself as you are. It’s not too late to change things for the better. I am Reilly, and I am Autistic.